Entrance door construction for handball and racquetball courts

ABSTRACT

A special entrance door for playing courts such as handball and racquetball courts has an easy to operate, positive latch arrangement which does not interfere with play, and incorporates a compartment which both conceals the court side doorknob and provides storage space for personal items and playing gear. Access to the compartment is provided by a small door which, when closed, is flush with the inside surface of the entrance door. A simple pull is mounted in the compartment door and is normally retracted flush with its outside (court side) surface. Therefore, the ball may be played off the door structure with the usual action due to the absence of interfering projections, and personal items are likewise concealed to preclude interference with play.

United States Patent 1191 Spaulding, Jr.

Mar. 25, 1975 1 ENTRANCE DOOR CONSTRUCTION FOR HANDBALL AND RACQUETBALLCOURTS [21] Appl. No.: 454,101

49/503, 272/3, 273/95 H [51] Int. Cl E06b 7/34 58 Field of Search49/169, 170, 171, 503, 49/62, 70; 272/3; 273/95 H; 52/205; 312/292 [56]References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,509,285 9/1924 Colbow. .lr49/62 X 2,169,874 8/1939 Hardt 1 49/171 X 2,172,649 9/1939 Claus 49/623,230,844 1/1966 lsaacs 49/169 X 3,758,106 9/1973 Liebig 272/3 PrimaryExaminerl(enneth Downey Attorney, Agent, or Firm-D. A. N. Chase [5 7]ABSTRACT A special entrance door for playing courts such ashandball andracquetball courts has an easy to operate, positive latch arrangementwhich does not interfere with play, and incorporates a compartment whichboth conceals the court side doorknob and provides storage space forpersonal items and playing gear. Access to the compartment is providedby a small door which, when closed, is flush with the inside surface ofthe entrance door. A simple pull is mounted in the compartment door andis normally retracted flush with its outside (court side) surface.Therefore, the ball may be played off the door structure with the usualaction due to the absence of interfering projections, and personal itemsare likewise concealed to preclude interference with play.

10 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures ENTRANCE DOOR CONSTRUCTION FOR HANDBALL ANDRACQUETBALL COURTS This invention relates to improvements in entrancedoors for use in handball and racquetball, and similar sports where aball may be played off all the walls of the playing court.

Handball and racquetball are played inside on a court and, after theserve, the ball may be played off any of the four walls of the court aslong as it strikes the front wall in its flight. Thus, many differentshots are possible using the four walls of the court in an effort toplace the ball so that the opposing player is caught out of position.Although the ball is more likely to be played off the front and sidewalls, it is sometimes played off the back wall of the court,particularly in instances where the ball is delivered deep in the backcourt.

Taking advantage of the characteristics of the game, the entrance doorfor a handball-racquetball court is commonly located at the center ofthe back wall in order to position the door where it is less likely tobe struck by the ball during play. However, since this is inevitable,drop handles and similar devices have been used heretofore as the doorhandle on the inside or court side of the entrance door. This has notproven completely satisfactory, however, since the handle may not beentirely flush and sometimes interferes with the action of the ball.Furthermore, operation of the door latch mechanism is made moredifficult the more it is attempted to minimize the effect of the handleby reducing its size, and thereby also reducing the convenience withwhich it may be grasped and operated to throw the bolt of the latchmechanism.

Additionally, an accompanying problem relates to the personal items andextra playing gear of the players. Oftentimes there is no choice but toleave such items on the floor of the court in one of the corners by theback wall since they present less of an interference problem in theselocations. For security, items such as keys, wallets, purses and watchescannot be left outside the court, so the player has no alternative andmust at least carry keys, extra balls, etc. into the court even iflocker facilities are available.

It is, therefore, the primary object of the present invention to providean entrance door structure for use in handball, racquetball and similarsports which is specially constructed to eliminate the interference inthe back court discussed hereinabove.

As a corollary to the foregoing object, it is an important aim of thisinvention to provide a special entrance door structure as aforesaidwhich has an easy to operate, positive latch arrangement that does notinterfere with play, and which also provides a storage compartmentaccessible from the court side of the entrance door to enable theplayers to conceal personal items and playing gear in order to alsoprevent such items from interfering with normal play.

Another important object of this invention is to provide an entrancedoor structure as aforesaid wherein the compartment in the structureboth conceals the court side doorknob of the latch mechanism andprovides the mentioned storage space, wherein access to the compartmentis provided by a small, easily operated door which, when closed, isflush with the inside surface of the entrance door.

Still another important object of this invention is to provide anentrance door structure as aforesaid in which a conventional doorknobmay be employed on the court side of the door to enable a player toeasily throw the bolt of the latch mechanism, this objective beingachieved by locating the knob in the compartment for convenient manualgrasping when the compartment door is opened.

Furthermore, it is an important object of the present invention toeliminate the need for providing an exposed court side door handle, andto substitute therefor a small, easily opened compartment door throughwhich access to a concealed main door handle or knob may be gained.

An additional objective is to provide an entrance door construction asaforesaid which permits viewing through' the door structure from theoutside when the compartment door is closed, also without interferingwith the action of the ball when played against any part of the insidesurface.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a handball-racquetball court showing theentrance door structure of the present invention and illustrating twoexemplary shots, the side wall nearest the viewer and the front wall ofthe court being transparent solely for purposes of illustration;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the entrance door from the court side,both the door and the small closure member of the compartment beingclosed;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the outside of the entrance door;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, vertical sectional view taken along line 44 ofFIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary, horizontal sectional view taken along line 55of FIG. 2, on the same scale as FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a portion of the court side of theentrance door, the closure member of the compartment being shown in anopen position; and

FIG. 7 is an enlarged, fragmentary, horizontal sectio'nal view takenalong line 7-7 of FIG. 4.

Referring initially to FIG. 1, the handballracquetball court 10 thereillustrated has the usual front wall 12, back wall 14, and playing floor16 marked to designate the serving area 18. A spectators balcony 20 islocated above the rear wall 14, and the side wall of the court 10farthest from the viewer is seen at 22. An entrance opening 24 iscentrally located in the back wall 14, and the entrance door 26 of thepresent invention is mounted therein by recessed hinges (not shown). Thedoor 26 would normally be arranged to swing inwardly when opened.

Before describing the entrance door construction in detail, it isinstructive to note the two exemplary shots illustrated in FIG. 1. Thebroken line 28 shows the flight of a ball hit by a player in thevicinity of the serving area 18. The ball strikes the front wall 12, theside wall 22, and the entrance door 26 in that order as illustrated bythe arrows. The broken line 30 shows the flight of a ball hit deep inthe back court directly against the entrance door 26, the ball thenrebounding down the court and striking the front wall 12. Both of theseshots illustrate that the back wall 14 may at times be played fromvarious player locations. Accordingly, the back wall 14 and its entrancedoor 26 should pres ent a smooth, virtually uninterrupted surface thatwill not interfere with the action of the ball nor discourage a playerfrom playing the ball off the back wall as a part of the strategy of thegame.

This is accomplished in the present invention as illustrated in FIGS.2-7. FIG. 2 shows the entrance door 26 as it appears from the court sidewhen closed. As will be described, the door 24 contains a storagecompartment, the door of such compartment being in the nature of arelatively small, rectangular closure member 32 on the inside of thedoor 26. All that is visible when the member 32 is in its closedposition is a retracted pull 34 and a circular, transparent insert 36located above the pull 34. From the outside (FIG. 3) the entrance door26 is seen to have an outside doorknob 38 that is disposed toward thecenter of the door away from the jamb. A small eyepiece 40 is disposedin alignment with the transparent insert 36 on the inside, as will bediscussed.

The door 26 is preferably of hollow core construction with its courtside panel 42 (FIGS. 4 and being selected to provide the ball withrebound characteristics that are the same as the action obtained whenthe ball is rebounded off the walls of the court. The closure member 32(preferably of the same or similar material) fits in a rectangularopening 44 in the panel 42 and is mounted for swinging movement by apair of recessed hinges 46. The pull 34 is a typical cabinet pull andretracts flush with the outside (court side) surface of the closuremember 32, the pull 34 being in the nature of a vertically disposedfinger that is hinged at its upper extremity. As may be seen in FIG. 4,there is just enough clearance at the lower end of the pull 34 to permita fingertip to withdraw the pull to the extended position thereofillustrated in broken lines. Both the size of the pull 34 and the forcethat must be exerted thereon to swing the member 32 to an open positionare quite small, since it is only necessary to separate the twocomponents 48 and 48a of a magnetic catch. The component 48 is mountedon the inside of the member 32, and the component 48 a (containing thepermanent magnet) is installed within the door 26. The spacing betweenthe components 48 and 48a is adjusted to hold the member 32 closed withthe outside surface of the member exactly flush with the inside surfaceof the door 26 (see FIG. 5). A friction or spring catch may also beemployed in lieu of the magnetic catch illustrated.

When the closure member 32 is swung open as in FIG. 6, a storagecompartment 50 as mentioned above becomes accessible, along with a latchmechanism 52 for the door 26 of which the outside doorknob is a part.The mechanism 52 is conventional and employs an extended bolt 54 toaccommodate the spacing of the knob 38 from the adjacent jamb. An insidedoorknob 56 of the standard type opposes the outside knob 38 but isconcealed within the compartment 50. Accordingly, as is evident in FIGS.4-6, the arrangement prevents the entire latch mechanism 52 from beingexposed from the court side.

FIG. 7 shows in detail a window 58 formed in the closure member 32 andincluding the transparent insert 36 which is flush with the outsidesurface of the member 32. The insert 36 is preferably of a transparentplastic material and does not adversely affect the action of the ball.Referring to FIG. 4, the eyepiece 40 and the insert 36 are aligned whenmember 32 is closed to provide aligned light passages so that oneoutside the court may look in to determine if the court is in usewithout opening the door 26.

Utilizing the door construction of the present invention, the playersstore personal items and playing gear in the compartment 50 so that thecourt floor is entirely clear. With the door 26 and the closure member32 completely closed, the vertical playing surface presented by the backwall 14 is substantially uninterrupted by the presence of the door 26.When egress is desired, the player merely swings the member 32 to anopen position using the small pull 34, and then reaches into thecompartment 50 and grasps the doorknob 56. It will be appreciated thatthis is a full-size doorknob to enable the player to easily throw thebolt 54 and permit the door 26 to be swung open in the normal manner.

It is significant in the present invention that the pull 34 used toassist the player in opening the compartment may be reduced to a size topreclude any material interference with the action of a ball played offthe surface of the closure member 32. Since the member 32 is in thenature of a small cabinet door, simple magnetic (as shown) or frictiontype catches suffice and these may be readily separated by a light pullto open the compartment. The significant mass of the door structure,therefore, is secured by a standard door latch mechanism as illustratedat 52, and for this purpose the concealed doorknob 56 allows the playerto conveniently throw the bolt 54 by manual rotation of the knob. Inthis regard, it is important that a positive latch arrangement such asillustrated by the bolt 54 be employed with an entrance door of thistype, since it must be securely held not only rigidly but in exactalignment with the surrounding wall in order that the adjacent wall anddoor surfaces at the edge of the entrance opening 24 will be coplanarand present no significant interruption that could interfere with thenormal rebound characteristics of the ball.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. An entrance structure for a playing court comprising:

an entrance door adapted to be received within an opening in a wall ofsaid court;

means for mounting said door in said opening for movement between openand closed dispositions,

said door being provided with a storage compartment therein, and havingan inside surface facing the court when the door is closed;

a closure member on the inside of said door normally closing saidcompartment and movable to an open position permitting free access tosaid compartment,

said member having an outside surface flush with said inside surface ofthe door when the member is in its normal position closing saidcompartment, whereby to preclude interference with the action of a ballplayed off the door; and

a latch mechanism in said door having manually operable actuating meansin said compartment accessible from the court side of the door when saidmember is moved to its open position, whereby the door may be opened andclosed and yet the actuating means is not exposed from the court side.

2. The structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein is provided anextendible and retractable pull on said closure member to assist inmoving the same between its open and closed positions, said pull beingnormally retracted flush with said outside surface of the member.

3. The structure as claimed in claim 2, wherein hinge means is providedmounting said closure member for swinging movement between said open andclosed positions thereof.

4. The structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein said latch mechanism hasa shiftable bolt, and said actuating means is operable to throw the boltand is adapted to be grasped from the court side of the door when saidcompartment is open.

5. The structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein light passages areprovided in said door and said closure member, in alignment when saidmember is in its closed position, to permit a person on the outside ofthe door to see through to the court side thereof.

6. The structure as claimed in claim 5, wherein said member is providedwith a window having a transparent element flush with said outsidesurface of the member and presenting said light passage therein.

7. In combination with a wall of a playing court having an entranceopening therein:

an entrance door;

means mounting said door in said opening for movement between open andclosed dispositions,

said door being provided with a storage compartment therein, and havingan inside surface flush with the court side of said wall when the dooris closed;

a closure member on the inside of said door normally closing saidcompartment and movable to an open position permitting free access tosaid compartment,

said member having an outside surface flush with said inside surface ofthe door when the member is in its normal position closing saidcompartment, whereby to preclude interference with the action of a ballplayed off the door; and

a latch mechanism in said door having a shiftable bolt for securing thedoor to said wall when the door is closed, and having manually operableactuating means in said compartment accessible from the court side ofthe door when said member is moved to its open position, whereby thedoor may be opened, closed and secured and yet the actuating means isnot exposed from the court side.

8. The combination as claimed in claim 7, wherein is provided anextendible and retractable pull on said closure member to assist inmoving the same between its open and closed positions, said pull beingnormally retracted flush with said outside surface of the member.

9. The combination as claimed in claim 8, wherein hinge means isprovided mounting said closure member for swinging movement between saidopen and closed positions thereof.

10. The combination as claimed in claim 7, wherein said actuating meansincludes a knob for throwing said bolt and adapted to be grasped fromthe court side of the door when said compartment is open.

1. An entrance structure for a playing court comprising: an entrancedoor adapted to be received within an opening in a wall of said court;means for mounting said door in said opening for movement between openand closed dispositions, said door being provided with a storagecompartment therein, and having an inside surface facing the court whenthe door is closed; a closure member on the inside of said door normallyclosing said compartment and movable to an open position permitting freeaccess to said compartment, said member having an outside surface flushwith said inside surface of the door when the member is in its normalposition closing said compartment, whereby to preclude interference withthe action of a ball played off the door; and a latch mechanism in saiddoor having manually operable actuating means in said compartmentaccessible from the court side of the door when said member is moved toits open position, whereby the door may be opened and closed and yet theactuating means is not exposed from the court side.
 2. The structure asclaimed in claim 1, wherein is provided an extendible and retractablepull on said closure member to assist in moving the same between itsopen and closed positions, said pull being normally retracted flush withsaid outside surface of the member.
 3. The structure as claimed in claim2, wherein hinge means is provided mounting said closure member forswinging movement between said open and closed positions thereof.
 4. Thestructure as claimed in claim 1, wherein said latch mechanism has ashiftable bolt, and said actuating means is operable to throw the boltand is adapted to be grasped from the court side of the door when saidcompartment is open.
 5. The structure as claimed in claim 1, whereinlight passages are provided in said door and said closure member, inalignment when said member is in its closed position, to permit a personon the outside of the door to see through to the court side thereof. 6.The structure as claimed in claim 5, wherein said member is providedwith a window having a transparent element flush with said outsidesurface of the member and presenting said light passage therein.
 7. Incombination with a wall of a playing court having an entrance openingtherein: an entrance door; means mounting said door in said opening formovement between open and closed dispositions, said door being providedwith a storage compartment therein, and having an inside surface flushwith the court side of said wall when the door is closed; a closuremember on the inside of said door normally closing said compartment andmovable to an open position permitting free access to said compartment,said member having an outside surface flush with said inside surface ofthe door when the member is in its normal position closing saidcompartment, whereby to preclude interference with the action of a ballplayed off the door; and a latch mechanism in said door having ashiftable bolt for securing the door to said wall when the door isclosed, and having manually operable actuating means in said compartmentaccessible from the court side of the door when said member is moved toits open position, whereby the door may be opened, closed and securedand yet the actuating means is not exposed from the court side.
 8. Thecombination as claimed in claim 7, wherein is provided an extendible andretractable pull on said closure member to assist in moving the samebetween its open and closed positions, said pull being normallyretracted flush with said outside surface of the member.
 9. Thecombination as claimed in claim 8, wherein hinge means is providedmounting said closure member for swinging movement between said open andclosed positions thereof.
 10. The combination as claimed in claim 7,wherein said actuating means includes a knob for throwing said bolt andadapted to be grasped from the court side of the door when saidcompartment is open.